WAC Corporal rocket launch at White Sands Proving Ground

WAC Corporal rocket launch at White Sands Proving Ground
  • 3086
  • Photograph
  • February 24, 1949
  • SC 317413-8

    The Army Ordnance Department today stated the recovery of the Army rocket, which made the record flight last Thursday, 24 Feb. 1949, at White Sands Proving Ground, New Mexico, has not been made. Although the area where the second-stage WAC Corporal returned is known from electronic tracking devices, the actual impact point may never be found. It is believed the WAC, traveling at this terrific speed, drove deep into the desert sand in the same manner a cyclone-driven straw penetrates a tree.

    Spokesmen of the Ordnance Department explained the rocket soared to its record altitude in six and one-half minutes, and landed twelve minutes after launching. Due to the long time of flight, it was necessary to take into account the rotation of the earth, and aim the missile appropriately to fall near the calculated impact point. The WAC carried a special radio which transmitted to ground recording stations technical data pertaining to conditions encountered during the flight. This was the first time that radio equipment has ever operated at any such altitude, and used in this way will provide a means for obtaining scientific knowledge in regions never before explored.

    An Army rocket leaving a tail of smoke behind soaring upward into the sky.

    28 Feb. 1949

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